Starting in June, Saudi Arabia will finally allow women to drive for the first time in the kingdom’s modern history, and many Saudi women are wholeheartedly embracing the changes and using platforms like Twitter to push for even more of them.
This week, women in the Kingdom began to share images showing that it costs up to six times more for women to take driving courses than it does for men. Women with some driving experience (such as those whose husbands or family members have taken them out) are required 30 hours of training, while those without any experience are required 90 hours. The average price of one hour of driving practice costs 60-75 riyals, meaning women without experience will pay nearly $1800 just to get the hours needed to qualify for a license. For men, it costs a little more than $100.
All-women's colleges are also offering driving courses with hefty price tags. One Saudi Snapchat user shared an image of the cost of courses at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University; one driving course there costs 2400 riyals. Hanaa Aldhafery, a 32-year-old Saudi woman, launched the hashtag #مستعده_ادرب (which translates to #iam_ready_to_train_you) when she tweeted: "Are there any volunteers who are ready to train others to drive for free? (And the training will be after Ramadan because we don’t want any trouble with the law and the training will be in parking lots away from crowded places) If the answer is yes write the name of your city in the #مستعده_ادرب" This new hashtag is taking Saudi Arabia by storm for all the right reasons... social media isn't often associated with positive campaigns, which is why we were thrilled to discover a new hashtag movement, originating out of Saudi Arabia, that's helping women to teach other women to drive. Following several reports that driving lessons for females are costing six times more than men in the Kingdom, we are proud this woman has taken charge with creating the hashtag #مستعده_ادرب, which translates to "I am ready to train you" to connect women who want to learn how to drive with those who can teach them. The tweet garnered a lot of responses from both men and women offering their time to train drivers, as well as offering up their vehicles for those who did not have their own to learn in. Whether you're Saudi-based or not, the hashtag serves up some serious girl power realness and is more than worth a scroll. We've always got time for women supporting women.